Wessaoe  o^  i^ne.  iresidenl^  of-  fvie/  U.S. 


of  tije 

®mber!git|>of  Jgortl)  Carolina 


CnbotDeb  bj>  ^i)t  dialectic 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00032204114         j 

This  book  must  not 
be  token  from  the 
Library  building. 


49th  Congress, 
1st  Session. 


SENATE. 


Ex.  Doc, 

No.  84. 


MESSAGE 


FROM  THE 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 


TRANSMITTING 


A  communication  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  relative  to  the  pay 
ment  of  certain  money  to  the  Eastern  (JheroTice  Indians. 


March  3, 1886.- 


-Read,  referred  to  the   Committee  on  Indian  Affairs,  and  ordered  to 
be  printed. 


To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  transmit  herewith  a  commimication  of  25th  ultimo  from  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  luterior,  submitting,  with  accompanyirig  papers,  a  draft  of 
a  bill,  recommended  by  the  Commissiouer  of  Indian  Affairs,  for  the  pay- 
ment of  money  claimed  under  alleged  existing  treaty  stipulations  and 
laws  by  such  Eastern  Cherokee  Indians  as  have  removed  or  shall  here- 
after remove  themselves  to  the  Indian  Territory. 

The  matter  is  presented  for  the  consideration  of  Congress. 

GROVEE  CLEVELAND. 

Executive  Mansion,  March  2,  1886. 


To  the  President . 


Department  of  the  Interior, 

Washington,  February  25,  1886. 


I  have  the  honor  to  snbmit  herewith  a  draft  of  proposed  legislation, 
prepared  in  the  Office  of  Indian  Affairs,  entitled  "A  bill  for  the  removal 
of  the  Eastern  Cherokee  Indians  to  the  Indian  Territory,"  for  which  pur- 
pose the  sum  of  $20,000  is  estimated  to  be  appropriated  thereunder. 

This  bill  provides  for  the  payment  not  only  of  the  expenses  of  re- 
moval of  such  of  the  said  Indians  as  may  desire  to  remove  west,  at  the 
rate  of  $53.33  each,  but  also  for  the  payment  of  certain  of  the  Eastern 
Cherokees  who  heretofore  have  so  removed  at  their  own  expense,  and 
who  are  entitled  to  reimbursement  at  the  rate  above  stated  for  such  ex- 
penses. 

A  copy  of  report  of  20th  instant  from  the  Commissiouer  of  Indian 
Affairs,  transmitting  the  draft  of  bill  to  this  Department,  which  recites 
the  various  provisions  of  the  treaties  and  laws  bearing  upon  the  subject, 
together  with  a  copy  of  the  letter  of  the  Cherokee  attorney  mentioned, 
therein,  is  also  herewith. 


p  I  ^ 


-708- 


2  EASTERN  CHP:R0KEE  INDIANS, 

^^Tfie  Commissioner  recommends  tbe  appropriation.  I  respectfully  re- 
quest that  the  matter  may  be  presented  to  Cougress  for  such  action 
as  tliat  body  may  find  to  be  right  and  proper. 

1  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,,  your  obedient  servant, 

L.  Q.  C.  LAMAR, 

Secretary. 


Department  of  the  Interior, 

Office  of  Indian  Affairs, 

Washington^  February  20, 1886. 

Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  herewith  a  copy  of  a  communication, 
dated  Washington,  D.  C,  January  20,  J 886,  from  J«.  M.  Bryan,  attorney^ 
inviting  attention  to  certain  claims  of  North  Carolina  Cherokees  for  re- 
moval and  subsistence  monej^  they  are  entitled  to  receive  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  treaties  of  1835,  1836,  1846,  and  an  act  of  Congress  ap- 
proved July  29, 1848(9  Stats.,  p.  264). 

By  the  eighth  article  of  the  New  Echota  treaty  of  December  29, 1835, 
with  the  Cherokees  (7  Stats.,  p.  482),  the  United  States  agreed  to  re- 
move these  Indians  west,  the  price  for  removal  being  fixed  at  $20  and 
one  year's  subsistence  at  $33.33  for  each  of  such  i;)ersons  who  might 
prefer  to  remove  themselves. 

By  the  third  article  of  the  sui)plementary  treaty  of  March  1,  1836 
(7  Stats.,  p.  488),  the  sum  of  $600,000  was  allowed  to  the  Cherokees  in 
lieu  of  all  claims  of  every  nature  and  description  against  the  United 
States,  including  the  expenses  of  their  removal. 

By  the  eleventh  article  of  the  treaty  of  August  0,  1846  (9  Stats.,  p. 
873),  the  question  whether  the  amount  expended  for  the  one  year's  sub- 
sistence should  be  paid  out  of  Government  or  Cherokee  funds  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  Senate  for  decision,  as  also  the  question  if  the  Cherokees 
were  to  pay,  whether  the  subsistence  should  be  charged  at  a  greater 
rate  than  $33.33  per  head. 

The  fourth  section  of  the  act  of  July  29,  1848  (9  Stats.,  264),  directed 
the  Secretary  of  War  to  ascertain  the  number  of  Indians  remaining  at 
the  ratification  of  the  New  Echota  treaty,  May  23,  1836,  and  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  to  set  apart  a  sum  equal  to  $53.33  for  each  indi- 
vidual reported  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  upon  which  interest  was  to  be 
paid  at  6  per  cent,  per  annum  on  such  per  capita. 

The  fifth  section  provided  for  the  payment  of  the  $55.33  for  the  re- 
moval and  subsistence  of  such  individual  members  as  might  thereafter 
desire  to  remove,  upon  their  removal  west,  which  amount  was  to  be 
charged  to  the  general  Cherokee  fund  and  reimbursed  therefrom. 

This  fund,  under  the  act  of  March  3,  1875  (18  Stats.,  447),  was  ap- 
plied lor  the  education,  improvement,  and  civilization  of  tiiese  Indians, 
after  certain  specific  acts  and  payoients  had  been  effected,  and  under 
the  act  of  August  15,  1876  (19  Stats.,  197),  the  balance  of  this  fund, 
after  certain  ])ayments  therefrom,  was  placed  to  their  credit  upon  the 
books  of  the  Treasury  Department,  to  bear  interest  at  5  per  cent,  per 
annum,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  authorized  to  use  annually, 
for  agricultural  imi^lements  and  for  educational  purposes  among  said 
Indians,  so  much  of  the  principal  of  said  fund  as,  with  the  interest  an- 
nually accumulating  thereon,  shall  amount  to  $6,000. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  Congress  has  determined  the  uses  to  which 
this  fund  must  be  applied,  and  the  Indians  are  without  means  for  their 
removal,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  Congress  should  furnish  the  necessary 


EASTERN    CHEROKEE    INDIANS.  6 

means  to  enable  the  Department  to  effect  their  removal,  as  stipulated  in 
the  eighth  article  of  their  treaty  of  1835. 

I  Therefore  respectfully  recommend  that  Congress  be  requested  to 
appropriate,  out  of  any  moneys  in  the  Treasury  of  the  United  .States  not 
otherwise  appropriated,  the  sum  of  $20,000,  or  so  much  thereof  as  may 
be  necessary  to  pay  the  cost  of  the  removal  and  subsistence  of  those 
members  of  the  tribe  who  have  removed,  as  well  as  those  who  may  now 
or  hereafter  desire  to  remove,  at  the  rate  of  $53.33  per  head. 

I  inclose  herewith  a  draft  of  a  bill  covering  the  amount  required  to 
carry  out  the  objects  specified. 
Very  respectfully, 

J.  D.  C.  ATKINS, 

Commissioner. 
The  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 


A  BILL  for  the  removal  of  the  Eastern  Cherokee  Indians  to  the  Indian  Territory. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
in  Congress  assembled,  That  for  the  amount  necessary  to  pay  for  the  removal  and  sub- 
sistence of  those  members  of  the  Eastern  band  of  Cherokees  \\h6  have  removed  them- 
selves, as  well  as  those  who  may  now  or  hereafter  desire  to  remove  to  the  Cherokee 
Nation,  in  the  Indian  Territofy,  at  the  rate  of  lifty-three  dollars  and  thirty-three 
cents  per  head,  being  the  amount  specified  in  the  eighth  article  of  the  Cherokee  treaty 
of  December  twenty-ninth,  eighteen  hundred  and  thirty-five,  aud  the  act  of  Con- 
gress approved  July  twenty-ninth,  eighteen  hundred  aud  forty-eight,  there  is  hereby 
appropriated  the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  dollars,  or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  nec- 
essary, to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 


Washington,  D.  C,  Januarij  20,  1886. 
Sir:  I  respectfully  beg  leave  to  call  your  attention  to  a  claim  of  North  Carolina 
Cherokees,  who  removed  from  North  Carolina   to  the  Cherokee  Nation  Indian  Ter- 
ritory, about  ten  years  ago. 

The  list  of  these  claimants  that  I  am  rei)resenting  is  on  file  in  the  Indian  Depart- 
ment, and  every  claim  fully  proven,  as  to  number  of  persons  and  date  of  removal. 
The  claim  is  for  their  removal,  and  subsistence  for  one  year. 

Under  Cherokee  treaty  of  1H46,  provision  is  made  that  all  money  due  the  Chero- 
kees the  United  States  Government  agrees  to  paj^  5  per  cent,  interest  from  the  12th 
of  June,  1838. 

Therefore,  we  think  it  reasonable  and  just,  that  these  claimants  should  receive  in- 
terest on  the  several  sums  due  them  from  the  date  of  their  removal  west,  as  it  was 
their  own  funds  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  United  States  Government  for  this  special 
purpose,  aud  to  draw  interest  at  the  rate  of  6  per  cent,  per  annum. 

It  has  been  near  nine  years  since  these  claims  have  been  presented  to  the  Govern- 
ment for  payment. 

I  also  submit  a  report  from  the  Interior  Department,  dated  February  10,  1885,  for 
your  information,  on  these  claims,  and  I  respectfully  ask  that  j'ou  will  have  their 
money  appropriated  and  paid. 
Very  respectfuUv, 

J.  M.  BRYAN, 

For  Claimants. 
Hon.  J.  D,  C.  Atkins, 

Commissioner  Indian  Affairs. 


^ 


i9TH  Congress,  )  SEl^ATE.  4  Ex.  Doo. 

Is*  Session.       \  \     No.  82. 


MESSAGE 

FROM    THE 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

TRANSMITTING 

A  communication  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  relative  to  legislation 
in  behalf  of  certain  Cherolcee  Indians. 


March  3,  1886. — Read  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs  and  ordered 

to  be  printed. 


To  the  Senate  and  Honse  of  Representatives : 

I  transmit  herewith  a  communication  of  the  27th  ultimo  from  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Interior,  submitting  with  accompanying  papers,  a  draft  of 
a  bill,  prepared  in  the  Office  of  Indian  Affairs,  for  the  purpose  of  secur- 
ing to  the  Cherokee  freedmen  and  others,  citizens  of  the  Cherokee  ]S"a- 
tion  by  adoption  and  incorporation,  a  sum  equal  to  their  proportion  of 
the  $300,000,  proceeds  of  lands  west  of  96  degrees,  in  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritory, appropriated  by  the  act  of  March  3,  1883. 

The  matter  is  presented  for  the  consideration  of  Congress. 

GROYER  CLEVELAliTD. 

Executive  Mansion,  March  2,  1886. 


Departivtent  op  the  Interior, 

Washington.  February  27,  1886. 
The  President: 

I  have  the  honor  to  submit  herewith  copy  of  a  report  of  13th  instant 
from  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  presenting,  with  accompany- 
ing papers,  a  draft  of  proposed  legislation  for  securing  to  the  Cherokee 
freedmen  and  others,  citizens  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  by  adoption  and 
incorporation,  a  sum  equal  to  their  proportion  of  the  $300,000  appro- 
priated by  the  act  of  March  3,  1883  (22  Stat.,  624),  which  provides  as 
follows : 

That  the  sum  of  $300,000  is  hereby  appropriated,  to  be  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the 
Cherokee  Nation,  out  of  the  funds  due  under  appraisement  for  Cherokee  lands  west  of 
the  Arkansas  River,  which  sum  sliall  be  expended  as  the  acts  of  the  Cherokee  legis- 
lature direct,  this  amount  to  be  imuiediately  available.     *     *     * 

For  the  distribution  of  this  sum  the  Cherokee  legislature  passed  an 
act  May  19,  1883,  restricting  its  payment  to  "  the  citizens  of  the  Chero- 
kee Nation  by  Cherokee  blood." 

There  appears  to  be  no  conflict  between  the  act  of  the  Cherokee  leg- 
islature made  and  provided  for  the  distribution  of  this  fund  and  the  act 


r"$4^*^  lETlh 


Z  CHEROKEE    INDIANS. 

above  cited  making  the  appropriation.  But  when  it  is  examined  in 
the  light  of  the  provisions  of  treaties  and  agreements  relating  thereto — 
full  mention  of  which  will  be  found  in  the  report  of  the  Commissioner — 
the  claim  of  the  complainants  is,  in  my  opinion,  well  founded  in  right 
and  justice. 

I  therefore  submit  the  matter  for  your  consideration,  and  respectfully 

recommend  that  it  be  presented  to  Congress  for  such  action  as  that  body 

may  find  to  be  right  and  necessary  to  remedy  the  wrong  complained  of. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  verv  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

L.  Q.  C.  LAMAR, 

Secretary. 


Department  of  the  Interior, 

Office  of  Indian  Affairs, 
Washington,  D.  C,  February  13,  1886. 
The  honorable  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  : 

Sir:  This  office  is  in  receipt  of  a  petition,  addressed  to  the  Presi- 
dent, on  February  8,  1886,  by  J.  Milton  Turner,  as  attorney  for  the 
Cherokee  freedmen,  praying  that  the  necessary  steps  be  taken  to  secure 
to  the  said  freedmen  a  sura  equal  to  their  proportion  of  the  sum  of 
$300,000  appropriated  by  an  item  in  the  act  of  Congress  approved  March 
3,  1(^^83  (22  Stats.,  624),  which  reads  as  follows,  viz: 

That  the  sum  of  $300,000  is  hereby  appropriated,  to  be  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the 
Cherokee  Nation,  out  of  the  funds  due  under  appraisement  for  Cherokee  lands  west 
of  the  Arkansas  River,  which  sum  shall  be  expended  as  the  acts  of  the  Cherokee  legis- 
lature direct,  this  ainount  to  be  immediately  available:  Provided,  That  the  Cherokee 
Nation,  through  its  proper  authorities,  shall  execute  conveyances,  satisfactory  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  to  the  United  vStates  in  Trust  only  for  the  benefit  of  the  Paw- 
nees, Poncas,  Nez  Perces,  Otoes  and  Missourias,  and  Osages,  now  occupying  said  tract, 
as  they  respectively  occupy  the  same  before  the  payment  of  said  sum  of  money. 

The  several  required  conveyances  were  executed  on  the  14th  day  of 
June,  1883,  followed  by  the  issuance  of  the  necessary  requisition  for  the 
money  appropriated  by  the  act  aforesaid. 

The  act  of  the  Cherokee  national  council,  which  was  passed  over  the 
veto  of  the  principal  chief,  bv  the  constitutional  two-thirds  of  said 
council.  May  19,  1883  (Laws  "Cherokee  Nation,  1881-'83,  p.  139),  pro- 
vides— 

That  when  the  said  additional  amount,  appropriated  by  act  of  Congress  March  3 
1883,  shall  have  been  received  by  the  treasurer  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  the  jirincipal 
chief  shall  cause  the  same  to  be  paid  out  per  capita  to  the  citizens  of  the  Cherokee 
Nation  by  Cherokee  blood. 

The  next  two  paragraphs  of  this  act  relate  to  the  taking  of  the  neces- 
sary census,  &c.,  and  the  fourth  ])aragraph  thereof  provides — 

That  as  soon  as  advised  by  the  proper  authoriti»^s  that  the  funds  are  ready  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  treasurer  to  make  requisition  for  the  same,  and  on  receiving  said 
funds  it  shall  be  his  duty  to  pay  the  same  out  jier  capita  to  citizens,  by  Cherokee 
blood,  according  to  the  census  rolls. 

The  remainder  of  the  act  has  no  bearing  upon  the  question  now  at 
issue,  and  its  quotation  here  is  unnecessary. 

It  is  alleged  that  the  provisions  of  this  act  were  scrupulously  carried 
out,  and  that  none  but  persons  of  Cherokee  blood  received  any  benefit 
from  the  funds  in  question. 

I  have  carefully  examined  the  act  of  the  Cherokee  legislature,  and  in 
my  opinion  it  is  in  violation  of — 


CHEROKEE    INDIANS.  6 

(1)  The  rights  of  the  freediueu  under  the  9th  article  of  the  Cherokee 
treaty  of  1806  (14  Stats.,  SOI),  which  provides  — 

The  Cherokee  Nation  having  vohintarily,  in  February,  1863,  by  an  act  of  their 
national  council,  forever  abolished  slavery,  hereby  covenant  and  agree  that  never 
hereafter  shall  either  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  exist  in  their  nation,  other- 
wise than  in  the  punishment  of  crime,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  con- 
victed, in  accordance  with  laws  applicable  to  all  the  members  of  said  tribe  alike. 

They  further  agree  that  all  freedmen  who  have  been  liberated  by  voluntary  act 
of  their  former  owners  or  by  law,  as  well  as  all  free  colored  persons  who  were  in  the 
country  at  the  commencement  of  the  rebellion,  and  are  now  residents  therein,  or  who 
may  return  within  six  months,  and  their  descendants,  shall  have  all  the  rights  of 
native  Cherokees. 

There  are  three  classes  of  persons  mentioned  in  said  articles,  viz  : 

Those  liberated  by  the  voluntary  act  of  their  former  owners  or  by 
law  ; 

All  free  colored  persons  who  were  in  the  Cherokee  country  at  the 
commencement  of  the  rebellion  or  who  returned  within  six  months 
after  the  pioclamation  of  the  treaty ; 

The  descendants  of  the  two  classes  named, 

As  has  been  seen  by  the  9th  article  of  that  treaty,  these  persons  ac- 
quired all  the  rights  of  native  Gherol-ees,  and  if  they  are  possessed  of 
those  rights,  it  is  a  violation  of  the  treaty  to  deny  them  such  rights. 
There  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  in  my  mind  upon  the  subject.  These 
people,  having  the  vested  rights  of  native  Cherokees,  they  were  enti- 
tled to  their  pro  rata  share  of  this  fund. 

(2)  The  said  act  is  in  violation  of  the  agreement  entered  into  between 
the  Cherokees  and  Delawares  (Compiled  Laws  Cherokee  Nation,  p.  430) 
and  the  agreement  between  said  nation  and  the  Shawnees  {Id.,  345). 

By  the  15th  article  of  the  Cherokee  treaty  of  1866  certain  terms  were 
provided  under  which  friendly  Indians  might  be  settled  upon  unoccu- 
pied lands  in  the  Cherokee  country,  east  of  the  96th  degree  of  west  lon- 
gitude. The  Indians  thus  settled  were,  upon  full  compliance  with  the 
terms  and  provisions  of  sai  article,  to  be  incorporated  into  and  ever 
after  remain  a  part  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  on  equal  terms  in  every  re- 
spect witl)  native  citizens  of  said  nation.  Under  the  provisions  of  that 
article,  an  agreement  was  entered  into  between  the  Cherokee  Nation 
and  the  Delaware  tribe  of  Indians  on  the  8th  day  of  April,  1867,  which 
was  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  and  the  PrCvSident  of  the 
United  States,  respectively,  on  the  11th  day  of  April,  1867,  and  by 
which  the  Delaware  tribe  of  Indians  "  become  members  of  the  Cherokee 
Nation,  with  the  same  rights  and  immunities,  and  the  same  participa- 
tion (and  none  other)  in  the  national  funds  as  native  Cherokees." 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  same  article,  an  agreement  was  entered 
into  between  the  Cherokee  Nation  and  the  Shawnee  tribe  of  Indians  on 
the  7th  day  of  April,  1869,  and  approved,  respectively,  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  and  the  President  on  the  9th  ddj  of  June,  1869,  whereby 
it  is  provided — 

That  the  said  Shawuees  shall  be  incorporated  into  and  ever  after  remain  a  part  of 
the  Cherokee  Nation,  on  equal  terms  in  every  respect,  and  with  all  the  privileges  and 
immunities  of  native  citizens  of  the  Cherokee  Natioa. 

These  agreements  were  carried  out  in  every  particular.  The  necessary 
registration  was  made  and  the  requisite  amount  of  funds  were  trans- 
ferred to  the  credit  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  and  thereafter  these  two 
tribes  became  a  part  of  that  nation,  with  all  the  rights,  privileges,  and 
immunities  of  native  Cherokees,  and  it  necessarily  follows  that  the 
members  of  each  were  entitled  to  their  distributive  share  of  the  fund 
in  question;  and  when,  by  the  act  of  Cherokee  council,  they  were  denied 


4  CHEROKEE    INDIANS. 

the  right  to  participate  iti  that  fund,  they  were  denied  a  right  guaran- 
teed them  by  an  agreement  entered  into  under  a  solemn  treaty  stipu- 
lation. 

(3)  The  act  of  the  Cherokee  legislature  is  in  violation  of  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States.  The  Cherokee  Nation  have  the  right  oi 
self  government,  and  to  make  laws  for  the  government  of  persons  and 
property  within  its  limits,  so  long  as  such  laws  do  not  conflict  with  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof, 
&c.  But  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  says,  "Nor  shall  any 
person  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property  without  due  process  of 
law." 

The  three  classes  of  persons  named — the  freedmen,  the  Delawares, 
and  the  Shawnees — have  legally-vested  property  rights  in  tbe  Chero- 
kee Nation,  and  when  that  nation  deprives  them  of  that  right  "  with- 
out due  process  of  law,"  as  was  done  in  this  case,  it  is  a  violation  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

(4)  The  said  act  is  in  violation  of  the  sixth  article  of  the  treaty  of  1866, 
which  provides  that  "  all  laws  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  shall  be  uniform 
throughout  said  nation." 

(5)  The  said  act  is  in  violation,  in  ray  opinion,  of  the  spirit  and  intent 
of  the  act  of  Congress  making  the  appropriation,  which  says  that  the 
fund  appropriated  "shall  be  expended  as  the  acts  of  the  Cherokee  leg- 
islature direct." 

This  act  simply  gives  the  Cherokee  legislature  the  power  to  say  how, 
or  rather  for  ivhat  object,  the  fund  shall  be  expended,  not  for  the  benefit 
of  a  favored  class  or  a  favored  few,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole 
Cherokee  people,  no  matter  how  the  right  to  participate  was  acquired, 
whether  under  the  ninth  article  of  the  treaty  or  the  fifteenth  article 
thereof. 

The  act  does  not  vest  in  the  Cherokee  legislature  the  right  to  say 
who,  or  that  any  portion  of  the  nation  shall  receive  the  fund  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  another  portion  or  part  equally  entitled  to  participate  therein. 

Under  the  construction  placed  upon  the  act  by  the  Cherokee  legisla- 
ture that  body  had  the  power  to  appropriate  this  fund  to  the  exclusive 
use  and  benefit  of  its  own  individual  members,  or  to  the  exclusive  use 
and  benefit  of  the  principal  chief  or  to  any  other  individual  member  of 
the  nation.  In  my  opinion,  Congress  never  intended  to  vest  in  the 
Cherokee  legislature  this  unqualified  and  unbounded  right  and  power. 

(6)  The  act  of  the  Cherokee  council  in  this  matter  is  in  violation  of 
every  principle  of  equity  and  justice,  and  some  steps  should  be  taken 
by  the  United  States  Government  to  right  this  manifest  wrong.  As 
before  seen,  the  6th  article  of  the  treaty  of  1866  provides  that  all  laws 
of  the  Cherokee  Nation  snail  be  uniform  throughout  the  nation,  and  said 
article  further  provides  that  "should  any  such  law,  either  in  its  provis- 
ions or  in  the  manner  of  its  enforcement,  in  the  opinion  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  operate  unjustly  or  injuriously  in  said  district," 
being  the  district  defined  in  article  1,  in  which  certain  freedmen  and 
others  were  permitted  to  settle — 

He  is  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  correct  such  evil,  and  to  adopt  the 
means  necessary  to  secure  the  impartial  administration  of  justice  as  well  as  a  fair  and 
equitable  application  and  expenditure  of  the  national  funds,  as  between  the  people 
of  this  and  every  other  district  in  said  nation. 

In  my  opinion  this  section  of  the  treaty  clothes  the  President  with 
ample  power  to  take  such  steps  and  adopt  such  measures  as  may  be 
necessary  to  secure  to  these  several  classes  of  people  that  which  is  due 
them,  as  well  under  the  treaties  and  laws  cited  as  in  equity  and  justice. 


,  CHEEOKEE    INDIANS.  5 

The  question  tlieu  arises  as  to  the  best  means  to  be  adopted  to  bring 
about  the  desired  end.     This  can  be  done  only  by  one  of  two  ways : 

(1)  Congress  can  appropriate,  out  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not 
otherwise  appropriated,  a  sum  sufficient  to  make  such  a  per  capita  pay- 
ment to  the  people  of  the  several  named  classes  as  will  equalize  the 
per  capita  payment  made  to  Cherokees  by  blood,  out  of  the  $300,000 
appropriated  by  the  act  of  March  3,  1883,  under  the  act  of  their  legis- 
lature aforesaid,  making  distribution  thereof,  the  amount  appropriated 
to  be  a  charge  against  and  a  lieu  on  the  unassigued  lands  of  the  Cher- 
okees lying  west  of  the  9(Jth  degree,  upon  which,  under  the  16th  ar- 
ticle of  the  treaty  of  1866,  the  United  States  Government  has  the  right 
to  settle  friendly  Indians,  and  to  be  deducted  from  any  payments  that 
may  be  hereafter  made  on  account  of  said  lands;  and 

(2)  Congress  can  provide  for  the  diversion,  for  the  purpose  indicated, 
of  a  sufficient  amount  of  the  funds  now  in  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States  to  the  credit  of  the  Cherokee  ^STation. 

Under  existing  law  all  funds,  as  they  become  due,  are  deposited  with 
the  assistant  treasurer  of  the  United  States  at  Saint  Louis,  Mo.,  to  the 
credit  of  the  treasurer  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  to  be  disposed  of  as  the 
legislature  thereof  may  direct,  and  the  Government  thereafter  has  no 
further  control  thereover. 

Therefore,  whichever  of  the  two  suggested  methods  is  adopted.  Con- 
gressional action  will  be  necessary  to  bring  about  the  desir«-d  end.  In 
my  judgnientvthe  former  proposition  is  the  more  tenable  one.  The  ap- 
propriation of  the  $300,000  referred  to,  and  of  which  these  several  classes 
of  Cherokee  citizens  received  no  benefit,  was  made  out  of  the  funds  due 
under  appraisement  for  Cherokee  lands  west  of  the  Arkansas  River, 
and  it  seems  to  me  but  proper  that  the  required  funds  should  be  appro- 
priated by  Congress  and  made  a  lien  on  the  lauds  referred  to.  This 
would  leave  intact  the  funds  of  the  Cherokees  now  in  the  Treasury,  the 
revenue  from  which,  it  is  presumed,  is  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the 
whole  Cherokee  people,  no  matter  how  the  beneficial  interest  arose. 

I  am  not  advised  as  to  the  amount  of  the  per  capita  distribution  made 
of  this  fund,  but  the  census  taken  by  the  Cherokees  in  1880,  and  the  latest 
of  which  I  have  any  knowledge,  places  the  number  of  persons  of  Cherokee 
blood  at  15,307,  and  taking  this  as  a  basis,  the  distribution  would  be 
a  little  less  than  $20  i)er  head.  The  same  census  places  the  colored 
population  at  1,976,  the  Dela wares  at  672,  and  the  Shawnees  at  503,  the 
three  classes  aggregating  3,151;  and  taking  the  same  basis  for  calcula- 
tion, it  would  require  an  appropriation  of  a  little  over  $63,000  to  equal- 
ize the  per  capita  payment,  but  upon  the  presumption  that  there  has 
been  some  increase  among  this  people,  I  have  inserted  in  the  proposed 
legislation  the  sum  of  $75,000,  or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary. 
This  amount  is,  :t  is  believed,  large  enough  to  cover  the  interests  in- 
volved, and  if  it  should  be  in  excess  of  that  required,  the  balance  will 
go  back  into  the  Treasury. 

I  inclose  copies  of  the  agreements  with  the  Delawares  and  Shawnees, 
re8i)ectively,  and  of  the  petition  filed  by  Mr.  Turner,  with  draft  r,f  pro- 
posed legislation,  and  have  the  honor  to  recommend,  if  you  concur  in 
the  views  herein  expressed,  that  the  matter  be  presented  to  Congress, 
through  the  proper  channel,  with  request  for  favorable  action. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  D.  C.  ATKINS, 

Commissioner. 


6  CHEROKEE    INDIANS. 

To  the  President  of  the  United  States  : 

Your  petitioner  respectfully  submits  that  by  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress 
of  March  3,  188:J,  appropriating  $300,000  in  part  payment  of  lands  theretofore  ceded 
to  the  United  States  by  the  Cherokee  Nation  of  Indians,  said  $300,000  were  to  be 
distributed  among  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  ivhole  Cherokee  Nation 

That  subsequent  thereto,  viz,  on  the  19th  day  of  May,  1883,  the  Cherokee  coancil 
enacted  a  law  providing  for  the  distribution  of  said  $300,000,  hy  the  terms  of  which 
it  excluded  from  any  benefits  thereof,  and  any  claim  or  right  thereto,  per  capita  or 
otherwise,  the  freednien  and  all  other  citizens  or  members  of  said  Cherokee  Nation 
except  "Cherokees  by  blood." 

Your  petitioner  therefore  respectfully  represents  that  said  act  of  said  Cherokee 
council,  in  assuming  to  exclude  from  the  benefit  of  or  participation  in  said  fund,  per 
capita  or  otherwise,  of  the  $300,000  al)ove  referred  to,  and  to  which  they  were  and 
are  by  the  terms  of  said  act  of  Congress  of  March  3,  1883,  entitled,  frecdmen  and 
all  members  of  said  Cherokee  Nation,  except  "Cherokees  by  blood,"  is  illegal  and 
void,  as  in  direct  contravention  of  the  provisions  of  article  9  of  the  treaty  entered 
into  between  the  United  States  and  said  Cherokee  Nation  on  the  19th  day  of  July, 
1866;  ratification  advised,  with  amendments,  July  27,  1866;  amendments  accepted 
July  31,  1866 ;  and  by  proclamation  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  accepted, 
ratified,  and  confirmed  August  11,  1866 — 

In  this,  to  wit: 

That  by  said  article  9  of  said  treaty,  ''The  Cherokee  Nation  having  voluntarily  in 
February,  1863,  by  an  act  of  their  national  council,  forever  abolished  slavery,  hereby 
covenant  and  agree  that  never  hereafter  shall  either  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude 
exist  in  their  nation  otherwise  than  in  punishment  of  crime  whereof  the  party  hhall 
have  been  duly  convicted,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  applicable  'to  all  the  members 
of  said  tribe  alike.' 

"They  farther  agree  that  all  freedmen  who  have  been  liberated  by  voluntary  act  of 
their  former  owners,  or  by  law,  as  well  as  all  free  colored  persons  who  were  in  the 
country  at  the  commencement  of  the  rebellion,  and  are  now  residents 'therein,  or  who 
may  return  within  six  months,  and  their  descendants,  shall  have  all  the  rights  of  native 
Cheroeeks";  and  said  $300,000  having  been  thus  distributed  to  the  "  Cherokees  by 
blood  only,"  in  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  said  act  of  said  council,  and  the  lands 
ceded  by  said  Cherokee  Nation  to  the  United  States,  and  for  which  said  $300,000  is  a 
part  consideration,  belonging  as  well  to  said  freedmen  and  other  members  of  said  Cher- 
okee Nation  as  to  the  Cherokees  by  blood,  as  provided  by  said  ninth  article  of  said 
treaty,  it  must  be  apparent  that  unless  the  President  of  the  United  States  exercise  the 
authority  and  power  vested  in  him  by  the  sixth  article  of  said  treaty  ordering  that 
restitution  be  made  said  freedmen  and  other  members  of  said  nation  thus  excluded, 
they  will  be  forever  barred  and  cut  off  from  all  benefits  thereof  to  which  they  are  en- 
titled by  the  terms  of  said  treaty. 

Therefore  your  petitioner  respectfully  asks  that  an  executive  order  issue  on  the 
proper  authority  to  make  or  compel  restitution  to  be  made,  as  is  provided  in  terms  by 
the  6th  article  of  said  treaty  of  July  19,  1866.     Sai<l  6th  article  provides,  to  wit: 

"And  should  any  such  law,  either  in  its  provisions  or  in  the  manner  of  its  enforce- 
ment, in  the  opinion  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  operate  unjustly  or  inju- 
riously in  said  district,  he  is  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  correct  such  evil 
and  to  adopt  the  means  necessary  to  secure  the  impartial  administration  of  justice, 
as  well  as  fair  and  equitable  application  and  expenditure  of  the  uatioual  funds  as  be- 
tween the  people  of  this  and  of  every  other  district  in  said  nation."  And  as  well  as 
by  the  26th  article  thereof,  by  whicli  last-named  article  "The  United  States  guaran- 
tee to  the  people  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  the  quiet  and  peaceable  possession  of  their 
country  and  protection  against  domestic  feuds." 

And  your  petitioner  doth  further  pray  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  act 
under  the  authority  of  said  sixth  article  of  said  treaty  of  1866,  by  issuing  his  execu- 
tive notice  to  the  Government  of  said  Cherokee  Nation,  pointing  out  the  various  and 
persistent  violations  by  said  Cherokee  Nation  of  the  terms  and  provisions  applying 
in  said  treaty  of  1866  to  the  protection  and  rights  of  said  freedmen,  formerly  the 
slaves  of  said  Cherokee  Nation,  and  of  other  classes  of  citizens  of  said  Cherokee  Na- 
tion by  adoption  and  incorporation. 

And  your  petitioner  will  ever  pray. 

And  may  God  always  have  the  President  of  the  United  States  in  His  safe  and  holy 
keeping. 

J.  MILTON  TURNER, 
Attorney  for  the  Cherokee  freedmen, 

Washington,  D.  C,  February  8,  1886. 


CHEROKEE    INDIANS.  7 

Articles  of  agreement  made  this  8lh  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1867,  between  the  Cherokee  Xation, 
represented  bi/  William  P.  Boss,  principal  chief,  Eiley  Keyes,  and  Jesse  Bush yhead,  dele- 
gates duly  a  III  horized,  parties  of  the  first  part,  and  the  Delaware  tribe  of  Indians,  represented 
by  John  Connor,  principal  chief;  Charles  Joiirneycal'e,  assistant  chief;  Isaac  Journey- 
cake,  and  John  Sarcoxie,  delegates  for  and  on  behalf  of  said  Delaware  tribe,  duly  author- 
ized, ivitnesseth : 

Whereas,  by  the  fifteenth  article  of  a  certain  treaty  between  the  United  States  and 
the  Cherokee  Nation,  ratitied  August  11,  1866,  certain  terms  were  provided,  under 
"which  friendly  Indians  might  be  settled  upon  unoccupied  lands  in  the  Cherokee 
country  east  of  the  line  of  the  96°  of  west  longitude,  the  price  to  be  paid  for  such 
lands  to  be  agreed  on  by  the  Indians  to  be  thus  located  and  the  Cherokee  Nation, 
subject  to  the  approval  of  the  President  of  the  United  States;  and  whereas,  by  a 
treaty  between  the  United  States  and  the  Delaware  tribe  of  Indians,  ratified  August 
10, 1866,  the  removal  of  the  said  Delawares  to  the  Indian  country  south  of  Kansas 
was  provided  ior ;  and,  in  the  fourth  article  whereof,  an  agreement  was  made  by 
the  United  States  to  sell  to  the  Delawares  a  tract  of  land,  being  i)art  of  a  tract  the 
cession  of  which  by  the  Clierokees  to  the  United  States  was  then  contemplated  ;  and 
■whereas  no  such  cession  of  land  was  made  by  the  Cherokees  to  the  United  States,  but, 
in  lieu  thereof,  terms  were  provided,  as  hereinbefore  mentioned,  under  which  friendly 
Indians  might  be  settled  upon  their  lands ;  and  whereas  a  full  and  free  conference  has 
been  had  between  the  representatives  of  the  Cherokees  and  the  Delawares,  in  view  of 
the  treaties  herein  referred  to,  lookijig  to  a  location  of  the  Delawares  upon  the  Chero- 
kee lands,  and  their  consolidation  with  said  Cherokee  Nation  : 

Now,  therefore,  it  is  agreed  between  the  parties  hereto,  subject  to  the  approval  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  as  follows : 

The  Cherokees,  parties  of  the  first  part,  for  and  in  consideration  of  certain  pay- 
ments, and  the  fulfillment  of  certain  conditions  hereinafter  mentioned,  agree  to  sell 
to  the  Delawares,  for  their  occupancy,  a  quantity  of  land  east  of  the  line  of  the  96° 
west  longitude,''in  the  aggregate  equal  to  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  for  each  indi- 
vidual of  the  Delaware  tribe,  who  has  been  enrolled  upon  a  certain  register  made 
February  18, 1867,  by  the  Delaware  agent,  and  on  file  in  the  office  of  Indian  Affairs, 
being  the  list  of  Delawares  who  elect  to  remove  to  the  "Indian  Country,"  to  which 
list  may  be  added,  only  with  the  consent  of  the  Delaware  council,  the  names  of  such 
other  Delawares  as  may,  within  one  month  after  the  signing  of  this  agreement,  de- 
sire to  be  added  thereto,  and  the  selections  of  the  lands  to  be  purchased  by  the  Dela- 
wares may  be  made  by  said  Delawares  in  any  part  of  the  Cherokee  reservation  east 
of  said  line  of  96°,  not  already  selected  and  in  possession  of  other  parties,  and  in  case 
the  Cherokee  lauds  shall  hereafter  be  allotted  among  the  members  of  said  nation,  it 
is  agreed  that  the  aggregate  amount  of  land  herein  provided  for  the  Delawares,  to 
include  their  improvements  according  to  the  legal  subdivisions  when  surveys  are 
made — that  is  to  say,  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  for  each  individual — shall  be  guar- 
anteed to  each  Delaware  incoqjorated  by  these  articles  into  the  Cherokee  Nation,  nor 
shall  the  continued  ownership  and  occupancy  of  said  laud  by  any  Delaware  so  reg- 
istered be  inteifered  Avith,  in  any  manner  wliatever,  without  his  conserit,  but  shall 
be  subject  to  the  same  conditions  and  restrictions  as  are  by  the  laws  of  the  Cherokee 
Nation  imposed  upon  native  citizens  thereof. 

Provided  that  nothing  herein  shall  confer  the  right  to  alienate,  convey,  or  dispose 
of  any  such  lands,  except  in  accordance  with  the  constitution  and  laws  of  said  Chero- 
kee Nation. 

And  the  said  Delawares,  parties  of  the  second  part,  agree  that  there  shall  be  paid 
to  the  said  Cherokees,  from  the  Delaware  funds  now  held  or  hereafter  received  by  the 
United  States,  a  sum  of  money  equal  to  one  dollar  per  acre  for  the  whole  amount  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  for  every  individual  Delaware  who  has  already 
been  registered  upon  the  aforesaid  list,  made  February  18,  1867,  with  the  additions 
thereto  heretofore  provided  for. 

And  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  authorized  and  requested  to  sell  any  United 
States  slocks  belonging  to  the  Delawares  to  procure  funds  necessary  to  pay  for  said 
lands;  but  in  case  he  shall  not  feel  authorized,  under  existing  treaties,  to  sell  such 
bonds  belonging  to  the  Delawares,  it  is  agreed  that  he  may  transfer  such  United 
States  bonds  to  the  Cherokee  Nation  at  their  market  value,  at  the  date  of  such 
transfer. 

And  the  said  Delawares  further  agree  that  there  shall  be  paid  from  their  funds 
now  or  hereafter  to  come  into  possession  of  the  United  States,  a  sum  of  money  which 
shall  sustain  the  same  proportion  to  the  existing  Cherokee  national  fund  that  the 
numl)er  f)r  Delawares  regisered  as  above  mentioned  and  removing  to  the  Indian 
ct)nntrv  sustains  to  the  whole  number  of  Cherokees  residing  in  the  Cherokee  Nation. 
And  for  the  purjiose  of  asiiertaining  such  relative  numbers,  the  registers  of  the  Dela- 
wares herein  referred  to,  with  such  additions  as  may  be  made  within  one  mouth  from 
the  signing  of  this  agreement,  shall  be  the  basis  of  calculation  as  to  the  Delawares, 


X  CHEROKEE    INDIAIS^S. 

and  an  accurate  census  of  tlie  Clierokees  residiug  iu  the  Cherokee  Xation  shall  he 
taken  under  the  la™s  of  that  nation  within  four  months,  and  properly  certified  copies 
thereof  filed  in  the  Office  of  Indian  Affairs,  which  shall  be  the  basis  of  calculation  as 
to  the  Cherokees. 

And  that  there  may  be  no  douljt  hereafter  as  to  the  amount  to  be  contributed  to 
the  Cherokee  national  fund  by  the  Delawares,  it  is  hereby  agrt  ed  by  the  i^arties  hereto 
that  the  whole  amount  of  the  invested  funds  of  the  Cherokees,  after  deducting  all 
just  claims  thereon,  is  ^678,000. 

And  the  Delawares  further  agree,  that  in  calculating  the  total  amount  of  said 
national  fund  there  shall  be  added  to  the  said  sum  of  .$678,000  the  sum  of  $i, 000, 000, 
being  the  estimated  value  of  the  Cherokee  neutral  lands  in  Kansas,  thus  making  the 
whole  Cherokee  national  fund  $1,678,000  ;  and  this  last-mentioned  sum  shall  be  taken 
as  the  basis  for  calculating  the  amount  which  the  Delawares  are  to  pay  into  the  com- 
mon fund. 

Provided,  that  as  the  $678,000  of  funds  now  on  hand  belonging  to  the  Cherokees 
is  chiefly  composed  of  stocks  of  different  values,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  may 
transfer  from  the  Delawares  to  the  Cherokees  a  proper  proportion  of  the  stocks  now 
owned  by  the  Delawares  of  like  grade  and  value,  which  transfer  shall  be  in  part  of 
the  pro  rata  contribution  herein  provided  for  by  the  Delawares  to  the  fands  of  the 
Cherokee  Nation ;  but  the  balance  of  the  pro  rata  contribution  by  the  Delawares  to 
said  fund  shall  be  in  cash  or  United  States  bonds,  at  their  market  value. 

All  cash  and  all  proceeds  of  stocks,  whenever  the  same  may  fall  due  or  be  sold, 
received  by  the  Cherokees  from  the  Delawares  under  the  agreement,  shall  be  invested 
and  applied  in  accordance  with  the  23d  article  of  the  treaty  with  the  Cherokees  of 
August  11,  1866. 

On  the  fulfillment  by  the  Delawares  of  the  foregoing  stipulations,  all  the  members 
of  the  tribe  registered,  as  above  provided,  shall  become  members  of  the  Cherokee  Na- 
tion with  the  same  rights  and  immunities,  and  the  same  participation  (and  no  other) 
in  the  national  funds,  as  native  Cherokees,  save  as  hereinbefore  provided. 

And  the  children  hereafter  born  of  such  Delawares  so  incorporated  into  the  Chero- 
kee Nation  shall  in  all  respects  be  regarded  as  native  Cherokees. 

WILL  P.  ROSS, 

Principal  Chief. 
RILEY  KEYES, 

Cherokee  Delegation. 
his 
JOHN  +  CONNOR, 
mark. 

Principal  Chief. 
CHARLES  JOURNEYCAKE, 
ISAAC  JOURNEYCAKE, 

his 
JOHN  +  SARCOXIE, 
mark. 

Delaware  Delegation. 

Executed  and  delivered  in  our  possession  by  the  above-named  delegates  of  the  Cher- 
okee and  Delaware  Nations,  at  the  city  of  Wa«hington,  iu  the  District  of  Columbia, 
the  day  and  year  first  above  written. 

John  G.  Pratt. 

W.  A.  Phillips. 

Edward  S.  Menageth. 

Department  of  the  Interior,  April  11,  1867. 

The  within  agreement  between  the  Cherokee  and  Delaware  tribes  of  Indians,  con- 
cluded on  the  8th  instant,  and  providing  for  uniting  the  two  tribes  as  contemplated 
by  the  Cherokee  treaty  of  July  19,  1866,  is  respectfully  submitted  to  the  President, 
with  the  recommendation  that  it  be  approved. 

0.  H.  BRO\\T>fING, 

Secretary. 
Approved  April  11,  1867. 

ANDREW  JOHNSON. 


Agreement  between  Shaivnees  and  Cherokees,  concluded  Junel,  1869,  approved  hy  the  Presi- 
dent June  9,  1869. 

Articles  of  agreement,  made  and  entered  into  at  Washington,  D.  C,  this  seventh 
day  of  June,  A.  D.  1869,  by  and  between  H.  D.  Reese  and  William  P.  Adair,  duly  au- 
thorized delegates  representing  the  Cherokee  Nation  of  Indians,  having  been  duly 
appointed  by  the  National  Council  of  said  Cherokees,  parties  of  the  first  part,  and 
Graham  Rogers  and  Charles  Tucker,  duly  authorized  delegates  representing  the 
Shawnee  tribe  of  Indians,  parties  of  the  second  part ; 


CHEROKEE    INDIANS.  V 

Wilnesseth:  Whereas  it  is  provided  by  the  fifteenth  article  of  the  treaty  between 
the  United  States  and  the  Cherokee  Indians,  concluded  July  19th,  1866,  that  the 
United  States  may  settle  any  civilized  Indians,  friendly  with  the  Cherokees  and  ad- 
jacent tribes,  within  the  Cherokee  country,  on  unoccupied  land  east  of  96°,  on  such', 
terms  as  may  be  agreed  upon  by  any  such  tribe  and  the  Cherokees,  subject  to  the  ap- 
proval of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  be  consistent  with  certain 
provisions  specified  in  said  article  ;  and 

Whereas  the  Shawnee  tribe  of  Indians  are  civilized  and  friendly  with  the  Cherokees 
and  adjacent  tribes,  and  desire  to  settle  within  the  Cherokee  country  on  unoccupied 
lauds  east  of  96°  : 

It  is  therefore  agreed,  by  the  parties  hereto,  that  such  settlement  may  be  made 
upon  the  following  terms  and  conditions,  viz : 

That  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars  belonging  to  the  Shawnee  tribe  of  Indians,  and, 
arising  under  the  provisions  of  treaties  between  the  United  States  and  said  Shawneer 
Indians,  as  follows,  viz: 

For  permanent  annuity  for  educational  purposes,  per  fourth  article  treaty  third 
August,  1795,  and  third  article  treaty  tenth  of  May,  1854,  one  thousand  dollars ; 

For  interest,  at  five  per  centum,  on  forty  thousand  dollars  for  educational  purposes, 
per  third  article  treaty  10th  May,  1854,  two  thousand  dollars; 

For  permanent  annuity,  in  specie,  for  educational  purposes,  per  fourth  article  treaty 
29th  September,  1817,  and  third  article,  10th  May,  1854,  two  thousand  dollars; 

Shall  be  paid  annually  to  Cherokee  Nation  of  said  Indians,  and  that  the  annuities 
and  interest,  as  recited,  and  the  investment  or  investments  upon  which  the  same  are 
based,  shall  hereafter  become  and  remain  the  annuities  and  interest  and  investment 
or  investments  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  of  Indians,  the  same  as  they  have  been  the 
annuities  and  interest  and  investment  or  investments  of  the  Shawnee  tribe  of  In- 
dians. And  that  the  Bum  offiftythousand  dollars  shall  be  paid  to  the  said  Cherokees, 
as  soon  as  the  same  shall  be  received  by  the  United  States,  for  the  said  Shawnees,  from 
the  sale  of  the  lands  in  the  State  of  Kansas  known  as  the  Absentee  Shawnee  lands, 
in  accordance  with  the  resolution  of  Congress,  approved  April  7th,  1869,  entitled  "A 
resolution  for  the  relief  of  settlers  upon  the  Absentee  Shawnee  lands  in  Kansas,  " 
and  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  the  Shawnee  Indians, 
concluded  May  10th,  1854  ;  and  also  that  the  said  Shawnees  shall  abondou  their  tribal 
organization. 

And  it  is  further  agreed,  by  the  parties  hereto,  that  in  consideration  of  the  said 
payments  and  acts  agreed  upon,  as  hereinbefore  stated,  that  the  said  Cherokees  will 
receive  the  said  Shawnees — referring  to  those  now  in  Kansas,  and  also  to  such  as 
properly  belong  to  said  tribe  who  may  be  at  present  elsewhere,  and  including  those 
known  as  the  Absentee  Shawnees  now  residing  in  Indian  Territory— into  the  country 
of  the  said  Cherokees,  upon  unoccupied  lands  east  of  96°  ;  and  that  The  said  Shawnees 
shall  be  incorporated  into  and  ever  after  remain  a  part  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  on 
equal  terms  in  every  respect,  and  with  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  native 
citizens  of  said  Cherokee  Nation  ;  Provided,  That  all  of  said  Shawnees  who  shall  elect 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  provisions  of  this  agreement  shall  register  their  names,  and 
permanently  locate  in  the  Cherokee  country  as  herein  provided  within  two  years 
from  the  date  hereof,  otherwise  they  shall  forfeit  all  rights  under  this  agreement. 

In  testimony  whereof,  the  parties  hereto  have  hereunto  subscribed  their  names  and 
and  affixed  their  seals  on  the  day  and  year  first  above  written. 

H.  D.  REESE,  [SKAL.] 

WM.  P.  ADAIR,  [SEAL.] 

Delegates  Bepreseniinfi  the  Chfvokee  Xafion  of  Indians. 
GRAHAM  ROCxERS,      [seal.] 
CHARLES  TUCKER,    [seal.] 
Delegates  representing  the  Shawnee  tribe  of  Indians. 

Attest : 
W.  R.  Irwin. 
H.  E.  McKke. 
A.  N.  Blacklidge. 
Jas.  B.  Abbott. 


Department  of  Interior, 

June  9,  1869. 
The  within  agreement  between  the  Cherokee  and  Shawnee  tribes  of  Indians,  con- 
cluded on  the  7th  inst.,  and  providing  for  uniting  the  two  tribes  as  contemplated  by 
the  Cherokee  treaty  of  July  19, 1866,"  is  respectfully  submitted  to  the  President  with 
the  recommendation  that  it  be  approved. 

J.  D.  COX, 

iStcreiart/. 
Approved  June  9,  1869. 

U.  S.  GRANT. 
S.  Ex.  82 2 


10  CHEROKEE    INDIANS. 

Whereas,  it  is  provided  in  the  uinth  article  of  tlie  treaty  of  July  19,  1866,  between 
"the  United  States  and  the  Cheroki-e  Nation  of  Indians,  that  freedmeu  who  have  been 
liberated  by  voluntary  act  of  their  former  owntrs,  or  by  law,  as  well  as  all  free  col- 
ored perbous  who  were  in  the  (Cherokee)  country  at  the  commencement  of  the  rebel- 
lion, and  were  then  residents  therein,  or  who  might  return  within  six  months,  and 
their  descendants,  sliall  have  all  the  rights  of  native  Cherokees;  and 

Whereas,  by  the  fifteenth  artiele  of  the  aforesaid  treaty,  certain  terms  were  pro- 
vided under  which  friendly  Indians  might  be  settled  upon  unoccupif-d  lauds  in  the 
Cherokee  country  east  ot  the  ninety-sixth  degree  of  west  longitude;  and  the  In- 
dians thus  settled  were,  upon  full  compliance  with  the  provisions  of  said  article,  to  be 
incorporated  into  and  ever  after  remain  a  jiart  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  on  equal 
terms  in  every  respect  with  native  citizens  ;  and 

Whereas,  under  tlie  provisions  of  the  aforesaid  fifteenth  article,  an  agreement  was 
entered  into  between  the  Cherokee  Nation  and  the  Delaware  tribe  of  Indians,  on  the, 
8th  day  of  April,  1667,  ^vhiuh  ngreement  was  approved  respectively  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  and  the  President  of  the  United  States  on  the  11th  day  of  April,  1867, 
and  by  the  terms  of  which  the  Delaware  Indians  "became  members  of  the  Cherokee 
Nation,  with  the  same  rights  nn'l  immunities  and  the  same  participation  (and  no 
other)  in  the  national  funds  as  native  Cherokees;"  and 

Whereas,  under  the  provisions  of  the  aforesaid  fifteenth  article,  an  agreement  was 
entered  into  between  the  Cherokee  Nation  and  the  Shawnee  tribe  of  Indians,  on  the 
7th  day  of  June,  1869,  and  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  and  the  Presi- 
dent ot  the  United  States,  respecti\  elj-,  on  the  9th  day  of  June,  1869,  by  the  terms  of 
■which  the  Shawnee  Indians  were  incorporated  into  and  became  a  part  of  the  Cherokee 
Nation  on  equal  terms  in  every  respect,  and  with  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of 
native  citizens  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  ;  and 

Whereas  it  is  provided  by  the  sixth  article  of  the  aforesaid  treaty  that  all  laws  of 
cthe  Cherokee  Nation  shall  be  uniform  throughout  said  nation ;  and 

W^hereas  by  an  item  in  the  act  making  appropriations  for  sundry  civil  expenses  of 
the  Government  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  13,  1884,  and  for  other  purposes,  ap- 
proved March  3,  1883,  the  sum  of  .$300,000  was  "  appropriated,  to  be  paid  into  the  treas- 
ury of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  out  of  the  funds  due  under  appraisement  for  Cherokee 
lands  west  of  the  Arkansas  River,  which  sum  shall  be  expended  as  the  acts  of  the 
'Cherokee  legislature  direct;"  aud 

Whereas  by  an  act  of  the  Cherokee  legislature,  which  was  passed  over  the  veto  of 
the  principal  chief,  and  became  a  law  on  the  19th  day  of  May,  1883,  the  principal 
chief  was  directed  to  caase  the  said  sum  of  $300,000  to  be  paid  out  pei-  capita  to  the 
citizens  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  by  blood,  aud  which  sum  has  been  paid  out  only  to 
Cherokee  citizens  by  blood  as  directed  by  said  act;  and 

Whereas  by  the  said  act  of  the  Cherokee  legislature  the  aforesaid  freedmen,  Dela- 
ware and  Shawnee  Indians,  have  been  deprived  of  their  legal  aud  just  dues  guaran- 
teed them  by  treaty  stipulations:  Therefore, 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America 
in  Congress  assembled,  That  there  be,  and  hereoy  is,  approj^riated,  out  of  any  money  in 
the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  the  sum  of  $75,000,  or  so  much  thereof  aa 
may  be  necessary,  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  this  act ;  and  the  amount  actually 
expended  shall  be  charged  against  the  Cherokee  Nation  on  account  of  its  lands  west 
•of  the  Arkansas  River,  and  shall  be  a  lien  on  said  land,  and  which  shall  be  deducted 
from  any  payment  hereafter  made  on  account  of  said  lands. 

The  said  sum,  or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary,  shall  be  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  distributed  per  capita  {I)  among  such  freedmen  and  their  descendants  as 
are  mentioned  in  the  ninth  article  of  the  treaty  of  July  19,  1866,  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Cherokee  Nation  of  Indians  ;  (2)  among  the  Delaware  tribe  of  Indians 
incorporated  into  the  Cherokee  Nation  by  the  terms  of  a  certain  agreement  entered 
into  between  said  Cherokee  Nation  and  Delaware  Indians  under  the  provisions  of  the 
fifteenth  article  of  the  aforesaid  treaty,  on  the  8th  day  of  April,  1867,  and  apjjroved, 
respectively,  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
on  the  lltli  day  of  Ajiril,  1867 ;  and  (3)  among  the  Shawnee  tribe  of  Indians  incor- 
porated into  the  Cherokee  Nation  by  the  terms  of  a  certain  agreement  entered  into 
between  the  said  Cherokee  Nation  aud  Shawnee  Indians,  under  the  provisions  of  the 
aforesaid  article  and  treaty  on  the  7th  day  of  June,  1869,  and  approved,  respect- 
ively, by  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  on  the 
9th  day  of  June,  1869,  in  such  manner  and  in  such  amount  or  amounts  as  will  equal- 
ize the  per  capita  payment  made  to  Cherokees  by  blood,  in  accordance  with  the  act 
of  the  Cherokee  legislature  aforesaid,  out  of  the  sum  of  $300,000  apjiropriated  by  the 
act  of  March  3,  1883,  aforesaid. 


CHEROKEE    INDIANS.  11 

[Sapplementary  to  a  petition.] 

To  the  Preaident  of  the  United  States  : 

The  unrlersigiied,  referring  to  bis  petition  of  date  Sth  day  of  February,  1886,  has 
the  honor  to  point  to  the  quotation  therein  contained  from  the  6th  article  of  the 
treaty  of  1866,  and  in  that  quotation  to  point  to  the  phrases  "  said  district"  and  "this 
and  every  other  district  in  said  nation,"  for,the  purpose  of  explaining  that  in  the  fourth 
article  of  said  treaty  of  1866  it  was  provided  and  left  to  the  election  of  certain  "  freed 
persons"  and  "free  negroes"  whether  or  not  they  should  avail  themselves  of  "  the 
right  to  settle  in  and  occupy  the  Canadian  district  southwest  of  the  Arkansas  River, 
and  all  that  tract  of  country  lying  northwest  of  Grand  River  and  bounded  on  the 
southeast  by  Grand  River,"  &c. 

Said  freed  persons  and  free  negroes  were  fixed  in  this  right,  qualified  by  a  legal  limi- 
tation to  expire  with  the  expiration  of  the  first  two  years  subsequent  to  the  promul- 
gation of  said  treaty  of  1866.  These  classes  allowed  that  limitation  to  operate  to  de- 
bar them  from  their  right  thus  to  have  settled. 

Referring  to  the  terms  of  the  ninth  article  of  said  treaty  of  1866,  in  which  the  high 
contracting  parties  have  agreed  that  the  said  classes  of  negroes  shall  and  have  created 
for  them  a  beneficiary  right  granting  and  guaranteeing  to  the  said  negroes  or  freedmen 
in  terms,  "  all  the  rights  of  native  Uherokees,"  it  will  be  observed  that  the  said  ninth 
article  and  the  terms  thereof,  as  stipulated  and  agreed  upon  by  the  two  high  contract- 
ing parties,  is  to  all  intent  and  purpose  in  its  independence  perfected  in  the  distinctness 
of  the  terms  and  provisions  of  said  ninth  article  from  the  terms  and  rights  to  settle 
hereinbefore  mentioned  and  described  as  provided  by  the  aforesaid  fourth  article,  and 
limitation  thereof,  of  said  treaty  of  1866.  And,  in  this  therefore,  the  above-described 
terms  of  said  fourth  article  of  said  treaty  of  1866,  fixing  at  the  election  of  said  bene- 
ficiaries a  limitation  of  two  years  and  said  beneficiaries  having  allowed  themselves 
to  be  debarred  of  said  right  to  settle,  the  ninth  article  of  said  treaty  of  1866  operates 
to  grant  to  said  beneficiaries  "  all  the  rights  of  native  Cherokees"  in  any  part  what- 
soever of  the  Cherokee  landed  possessions,  moneys,  rights,  civil  or  political,  and  of 
"  all  the  rights  of  native  Cherokees"  of  whatsoever  kind  or  nature.  It  will,  there- 
fore, be  observed  that  in  the  very  independence  of  the  terms  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  ar- 
ticles, and  so  much  of  the  sixth  article  of  the  treaty  of  1866  as  begins  with  the  phrase 
"the  inhabitants  of  said  district  hereinbefore  described  shall  be  entitled  to  represen- 
tation according  to  numbers  in  the  national  council,"  and  ending  with  the  last  men- 
tion of  the  word  council,  and  as  well  as  all  the  terms  of  the  ninth  article  of  the  treaty 
of  1866,  respectively,  the  legal  harmony  itself  is  found  on  comparison  to  be  thoroughly 
preserved  and  established. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  front  the  undersigned  to  avail  himself  of  this  occasion  to  ex- 
press his  sentiments  of  highest  consideration  and  of  esteem  for  the  President  of  the 
United  States. 

J.  MILTON  TURNER, 
Attorney  for  Cherokee  Freedmen. 

"Washington,  D.  C,  February  15,  1886. 


